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JOSEPH' O. MARKS AND LEWIS G. EOKELS, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

Letters Patent 1Y0. 63,913, dated April 16, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN ARRANGEMENTS POR GLEANSING WATER PIPES.

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TO'ALL vWHOM IT MAY GONOERN:

Be it known that we, JOSEPH C. MARKS and LEWIS Gr. EGKELS, of the city and county of Washington, and the District of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Device for Removing Obstructions from Water Pipes; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same', suilicient to enable others skilled in the art to which it appertans to construct and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Figure 1 is a side elevation with a part of the enclosing walls removed.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section showing the interior arrangement.

The pipe leading from the main has a stop-cock as usual, and afterwards forks. The branch leading to the house has a strainer to prevent the passage of eels, fish, and other obstructions, and the other branch curves upwards, is provided with a stop-cock, and ends in a coupling for the attachment of hose for street-sprinkling, tc., and affords the means of washing away any obstructions which have lodged against the strainer. It frequently happens in water pipes that fish, eels, dto., become jammed in the pipes, and their position can only be detected by cutting the pipes in a number of places, at great expense oi' time, money, and convenience. The design of this improvement is to place at the entrance or any other part of the supply pipe a strainer to arrest the said obstructions, a pipe leading from this point by which any collections may be carried away and discharged. The pipe by which the said accumulations are passed offl from the face of the strainer is carried up to the curb or pavement forthe 4attachment of the hose for street-washing, and this being frequently opened, especially at the seasons when the obstructions by sh, 86o., are most likely to occur, the strainer is kept clean, and diiculty from that cause avoided. The usual stop-cock i'n the pipe leading from the water main affords the means of shutting ofi` the supply to the street-washer plug and to the house, and the pipe leading to the streetdvasher has also a stop-cock.

In the drawings, A is a cast-iron box for enclosing the apparatus, and is made of atapering form towards the top; a convenient shapeV in horizontal cross-section is an ellipse, and the larger size of the box at the lower portion givestit much greater stability in the ground, as the earth packs down and steadies it. The shape also gives it the power of resisting the upheaving effect of frost, as the ground cannot bear against the sides of the box in a direction to raise it, as it may when the box increases in size towards its upper portion, nor will it readily raise it by bearing and lifting against its sides as it may when the sides of the box are parallel and vertical. At the bottom of the box, on the sides which span the pipes B C, are arches which permit the withdrawal of the box A without disturbing the pipes. This is not so readily accomplished by unlocking-nuts and screws, and it is very important not -to make the'integrity of the pipes depend upon the immobility of the box, as it may become loosened or tilted, and a rupture of the pipes is almost certain in such a case unless it is free to move without lifting upon them. B is the pipe leading from the water main in the street, and D is a stopcock therein; this is operated from above by a ring or by a key, as may be convenient. C is the pipe leading to the house, and L is a strainer at the intersection of the pipe C, and the curved portion F, which leads upward to the plug in the pavement where the street-sprinkling hose is attached. The pipe F has a stop-cock, Gr, which is operated by thc rod H, which is within reach when the lid I of the` box A is removed.. The stop-cock, when o in the position shown in iig. 2, allows the water in the pipe above it to escape and pass through the openings K to prevent its becoming frozen in the pipe F." To insure the turning off completely of the stop-cock Gr, the length of the rod H is so arranged that the lid I cannot be replaced until the rod H is depressed to the proper point. Whenever it may appear that the water does not flow freely in the house pipes the stop-cock G is opened, and if the obstruction be against the strainer L it is washed away and the free ilow of water is restored. If the obstruction be not removed by this means, and the water {low languidly from the pipe F, it may be taken for granted that the diiliculty is in the main, and means to remove it be at once adopted. The gradual curve of the pipe'F, in thc strainer L, throws the fish, Ste., above the water-way. into the pipe C, and the orifices in the cocks `D C being round do not aii'ord a lodgment for obstacles.

We are aware that Letters Patent were granted to Tixor'nas D. Bond on the 7th of April, 1863, for an apparatus f or preventing obstructions in water pipes, but the superiority of our device over that of Bond is that the curved form of the strainer, and Athe relative arrangement of the parts, cause the current to sweep the strainer-and eifectually remove the obstructions whenever the discharge faucet G is opened.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- 1. The arrangement of the pipes B F C, stop-cocks D G, and strainer L, constructed and operating substantially as described.

2. The combined'arra'ngement of the box A, pipes B C, cock G, rod H, and lid I, operating as described. To the above specification of our invention we have signed our hands this 15th day of March, 1867.

i i J. '0. MARKS,

LEWIS G. ECKELS. Witnesses:

NATHAN K. ELLSWORTH, EDWARD H. KNIGHT. 

